Chapter 2
The office was packed the next morning, with tons of citizens filing complaints about how some Durmstrang students were practicing magical hexes on Italian senior citizens during their winter break vacation. Each desk was constantly being bombarded with phone calls about these students. Marie strolled in, wading through the throng of angry people, and into her own office room. Louis ran in immediately after, and explained the situation.
"Alright, Louis, grazie. I'll call the Law Enforcement department and get them right on it," Marie sighed, quite disappointed her day was already starting out in such huge disarray. She picked up the telephone, and dialed the number.
"Italian Department of Magical Law Enforcement, sÍ?"
"Ciao, questo é Marie Benedetti."
"Ah, Marie! How are you, dear?"
"I could be doing better, I have a bit of a problem. We have numerous complaints about a few Durmstrang students wreaking havoc on some senior citizens."
"Oh, alright, we'll get right on it then. You can tell everyone that everything is going to be okay, and we are taking care of it."
"Grazie."
"Prego."
Marie let out a sigh, and slapped the phone back on the receiver. Taking a deep breath, she walked out of her office, and into the work office. "Everyone, we have contacted the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and they are currently taking care of the Durmstrang students' situation. If you are currently in here for that reason, you may exit if you so choose," Marie called out loudly, quieting the room. Slowly, little swarms of people stood from their seats and left the office, leaving only about six other people in the office, continuing to speak to an employee. Marie gave a small smile, overjoyed that she didn't have to deal with that anymore. She went to walk back in her office, when Louis stopped her in her tracks.
"Scusami, Signorina Benedetti, there are a few citizens who have arranged a meeting with you, would you like me to let them in?"
"Of course, Louis, just let me clean up the office a bit, and then you can gladly show them in," Marie replied, patting her assistant on the shoulder.
Her office was a bit of a clutter, with stacks of paper leaning from her desk as if she was trying to recreate the Great Tower of Pisa. Picking them up and setting them in the corner, she finally sat in her seat. "Accio gli occhiali!" She hissed, as her reading glasses came zooming from across the room and into her hands. Placing them on her face, she looked down at her schedule, reading over the summary of the meeting. It seemed as if it was a French group of wizards who were purposing a new trading route between the two countries. They had apparently been originally set up to meet with the Head of Magical Trading Standards, but they had requested to meet with Marie herself. Flicking her wand, a couple chairs from the wall organized themselves in front of her desk for her clients. She placed her wand to her throat and spoke, "Louis, you can bring the group in now." With that, the door swung open to reveal three men, all in a nice formal shirt and jeans.
"Bonjour, Mademoiselle Benedetti."
"Bonjour to you all. I understand you have come to discuss a possible trade route? Please, take a seat, make yourselves comfortable," Marie grinned warmly, gesturing toward the three seats in front of her. The three men looked at each other awkwardly, and then sat down in the seats. All three of them had luscious black hair, gelled back in a perfect wave. The one man on the left wore red glasses, and seemed to have not shaved in weeks. The man in the middle was quite the opposite, with a clean-shaven face and teeth as white as the paper that sat in front of Marie. The man on the right had a white line that went across his eyeball, like a scar. Not only that, but his eyes were an odd, piercing blue color.
"Allow us to introduce ourselves. We're the Moubray brothers. And yes, we have a trade route we'd like to propose that neither the French or Italian magical governments have taken advantage of yet," said the middle brother, flashing his perfect teeth as he spoke.
"Yes, you see, it's in the countryside, but it's the quickest way from Paris to Rome, which would save so much time for wizards in both countries to collect French and Italian goods," the brother to the right mentioned, rubbing his scarred eyeball intensely. Marie nodded, thinking about all the possibilities a new trade route could open. The brother to the left continued to look down, twiddling his thumbs. A shiny sheen of sweat glistened on his forehead, his breathing growing quicker.
"He's not much of a people person, is he?" Marie inquired, looking at the man with concern.
The middle brother chuckled, patting his brother on the back, "Ha, no, he's very quiet, and nervous of people with such…high power."
"Well, no need to worry. I don't have much power, it's the citizens who really have the power," Marie insured, as pushed away from her desk a little to access a compartment full of maps. As she did that, she heard a nervous gulp from the brother. What was he so nervous about? Her head still under the desk, she rummaged through her things, continuing to talk, "So, what interested you three in this subject?"
One of the brothers answered rather quickly, "Oh, you know, just wanting to involve ourselves in our community a bit more." Marie's eyes darted under the table, and saw the middle brother pull out his wand, placing it on his lap. She inhaled deeply, now realizing why the brother to the left was so nervous. There was a click from her door, perhaps from it being locked.
"Which map would you prefer me to use to draw this route out? A map showing Europe, or two individual maps of Italy and France?" Marie stalled, taking her glasses off, placing them in the cabinet and then reaching in her pants' pocket for her wand.
"Either one will do," one of them muttered, as the middle brother grasped his wand with great intensity, ready to use it. Marie slowly pulled her wand out, also ready to counteract whatever spell the brother planned on using.
"I suppose I should just grab the European map."
"Sounds like a plan, mademoiselle." Taking in one last deep breath, she sprung straight up in her chair, facing the three brothers. "Avada-"
"Silencio!" Marie shouted, the middle brother's voice silencing before he could finish the spell. She turned toward the brother to the right, and yelled, "Stupefy!" He was launched from his chair and into the wall, his eye rolling back into his head on impact. The brother to the left let out a cry, raising both hands above his head. The middle brother slapped him, and tackled Marie. She screamed, her wand being thrown from her hand, skidding across the office floor. The man placed his hands around her throat, her vision becoming fuzzy. Her face reddened, but she gathered all her strength and kneed him in the stomach, causing him to let go. She then threw him into the desk, snatching her wand up. "Petrificus totalus!" Marie screeched, causing the brother to go completely stiff.
She reached in her emergency drawer, and pulled out a small pocket knife. She switched it open, and placed it on the last brother's neck, who was sobbing. "Someone help! Aiutatemi!" Marie called out, feeling blood trickling from her forehead and her lip. There was pounding on her door, with numerous people shouting. Realizing it was locked, Marie huffed, "Alohomora!" Half the people from the office tumbled in, wands pointing in all directions.
Louis shoved through everyone, and then gasped, "Dio mio! What happened?"
"They tried to kill me."
"I'm so sorry, it'll never happen again, please forgive me Signorina!"
"Louis, it's okay. It's not your fault. They were probably unhappy with the new foreign identification law I helped pass," Marie reassured the boy. Everyone still stayed in the room, unsure of what to do. "It's alright everyone, you can go back to work. Louis, Pietro, stay with me until we get some help from Law Enforcement," Marie ordered. Everyone filed out, except for Louis and Pietro, who was a thirty-year old man who had been part of the Ministry the past six years of his life.
"Are you sure you're alright, Signorina?" Pietro questioned worriedly, observing the scratches and cuts on his body.
"I'm quite alright, Pietro, just a little shaken up. Nothing I haven't handled before."
"If you say so," Pietro muttered, continuing to point his wand at the brother who lay slumped over on the wall. It was a bit odd for Marie to speak to a man older than her like he was just one of her employees. He was, but she still wasn't used to it, even after two years of being head of her department.
For 24 years old, she was doing very well in life. Graduating from school with flying colors, and going through university within two years, she joined in, working at a mere desk job in the department at 20. At 21, she kept moving up in the ranks, her peers looking up at her, and her advisors truly amazed by all her potential. When the head of the department retired when she was 22, the job was passed on to her, since she was deemed "most fit" for the job. She was the youngest head of any department in the Italian Ministry of Magic history.
Finally, after five minutes of silence and continuing to hold her pocket man to the quivering man's throat, a few Hit wizards stormed into the room, jabbing there wands in the air as if preparing for a fight. "Hit wizards? These aren't highly dangerous criminals!" Marie complained, silently cursing the Department of Magical Law Enforcement for wasting important task forces on such small escapades.
"They attacked you, and you are an important Ministry official, making them very dangerous," one of the Hit Wizards commented, before performing the Leg-Locker curse on each brother to ensure they would remain immobile.
"Grazie," Marie uttered, watching the Hit Wizards carry the three brothers out of the room.
"Um, I'm not sure if you if this is bad timing, Signorina Benedetti, but you have one more visitor that would like to see you today. I can tell them to wait until tomorrow, if you like," Louis mentioned, looking down pathetically at his shoes.
Marie shook her head, "No, it's okay, I can meet with them today. Send them in." Pietro and Louis both left the room, leaving Marie in her trashed office room. She bent over and picked up a shattered picture frame. It was a picture of her family, a family she hadn't seen since last Christmas. Her heart fluttered a bit, reminding her that she would be visiting them in two weeks for Christmas. Her line of work made it very hard to see them, and it made her feel awful to even dwell on it. Setting the picture on her table, she let out a deep sigh, and grabbed a tissue from a drawer in her desk. She gently wiped off some of the blood, but still felt a little bit dripping out.
Marie sat down carefully in her chair, feeling her bones ache from being thrown to the floor earlier. She closed her eyes, tilting her head up at the ceiling, when she heard the door creak. Her bloodshot eyes shot open, and she looked across the room to see none other than Draco Malfoy.
"Signore Malfoy, what a pleasure it is to see you. Benvenuto in Italia!" Marie welcomed, forcing a smile on her face. Draco gave her a nod, and sat himself in the only chair that wasn't flipped over or thrown across the room.
"I see that in Italy, they don't pride themselves on cleanliness," Draco sneered, glancing around the room, and then Marie herself. Marie bit her lip, telling herself not to stoop to his level.
"Well, you see, in our line of work, it's a very dangerous job. Unlike other departments, not only can you upset the people of your country, but you can also upset people of other countries," Marie warned him, a little part of her hoping it would scare him out of the job.
Draco just leaned back in his seat rather comfortably, replying with, "I'm rather used to people being upset with me."
"Oh, is that so?"
"Yes, it is so. I'm assuming you're also on that list?"
"Considering you don't really show me as much of an ounce of respect, I suppose so," Marie growled, but then stopped and straightened herself.
Draco let out a small chuckle, "I guess I can't have much fun with you, can I? Well, that's alright, we'll get used to each other eventually."
"Why are you even here? It's Saturday, you said I'd be seeing you Monday."
"I came to set up a schedule for our meetings with each other. Italy and Britain are good friends, so I plan on us being the same, despite you being tainted and such. Also-"
"Stop right there! I can't keep talking to you if you refer to my blood as being tainted, or cattivo! Can we both agree to stop that now?" Marie roared angrily, her face becoming flushed with redness. Draco's face turned a bit paler for a second, but then he slowly nodded.
"I guess I can stop saying it, but don't think for a second I'll stop thinking it," Draco insisted.
Marie shrugged, "I couldn't care less if you think it."
"Now, anyway, I would like to schedule our meetings to be four times a week, which leaves you with three extra days to consult with any other countries you feel you need to."
"The last British head of Magical Cooperation had us meeting three times a week."
"Well, I don't want to meet three times a week. If I plan on being efficient, I want four days a week. Is that doable for you?"
"Yes, I can make time in my schedule, how long are these meetings?"
"One to two hours."
"Morning or afternoon?"
"Half the time will be in the morning. The other half is in the evening." Marie crossed her arms, unsure of this plan, but Draco continued to speak, "On Mondays and Fridays, you will be coming to Britain to meet with me. On Wednesdays and Saturdays, I will be coming to Italy to meet with you. Monday and Saturday will be morning meetings, Wednesdays and Fridays will be evening meetings. Understood?" Marie sat there for a second, letting the whole thing sink in.
Finally, she spoke, "Fine. We can do that." Draco grinned at her, offering his hand for her to shake. Unsure of it, she gently shook it, and then watched him wipe it on her jacket, as if she had a sickness. His eyes drifted downward, at the broken picture on her desk.
"Is this your family?" Draco asked, carefully picking it up, observing the scene of Marie, her mother, father, and little sister all swinging on swings in a playground. They all were laughing and seemed to be having a wonderful time.
"Yes, it was taken in my seventh year of school," Marie told him, watching him cautiously. His eyes flicked over the picture numerous times, as if to absorb all the details about it. They then grew glassy, and he wiped them off quickly.
"You all seem very happy," He commented, finally setting the picture down.
"We were. Seventh year was a very good year for me. How about you?" Marie questioned, raising an eyebrow at him. His lips instantly pursed, and he went silent for a minute, as if trying to block out anything he could about his seventh year of school, but Marie was unsure why.
"I shall see you in my office Monday," Draco stated abruptly, then stood from his chair and raced out of the room. Marie also stood from her chair, but did not follow Draco Malfoy. She instead looked down at his seat, and noticed a single teardrop on her desk.
Hi guys! I hope you liked this chapter, it gave you a more in-depth look into what Marie's job actually is, plus some Draco at the end! I hope you guys liked the story so far, if you do, or don't and would like to offer some (helpful) advice, message me, review, comment, share, like, all those goods things! Big thanks to PinkRose235 for the first review! Don't forget, stay awesome, Gotham!
-April